In the atmosphere of joy after the Vietnam National Team won the 2024 ASEAN Cup, millions of fans in provinces and cities across the country poured into the streets to celebrate the victory. Besides the image of the red flag with yellow star fluttering all over the streets, the image of groups of people seriously obeying traffic light signals also left an impression.
Many people say that, besides the fear of heavy fines, people's awareness of voluntarily obeying traffic laws has had positive changes.
In Hanoi, at the beginning of the week, some roads with high traffic density, such as: Xa Dan, O Cho Dua, Giai Phong, Khuat Duy Tien, Lang, Pham Hung... although still congested, the situation of people jostling, stopping beyond the line and running red lights... has decreased significantly.
Those who are not aware or deliberately violate the law will be strictly punished according to the regulations. In particular, violations such as running red lights are heavily fined, from 4 to 6 million VND for motorbikes, and from 18 to 20 million VND for cars. Many people expressed regret, because just a few seconds of impatience caused them to be fined nearly a month's salary.
For example, on January 6, Ms. Tran Duyen (Cau Giay District, Hanoi), although the red traffic light at the O Cho Dua - Xa Dan intersection (Dong Da District, Hanoi) was on, the traffic police blew their whistles to signal the vehicles to stop, Ms. Duyen and some others still tried to ride their motorbikes to pass. Ms. Duyen said she was in a "hurry" to go to work.
“I was in a hurry so I didn’t pay attention to the traffic lights. When I saw other cars going, I followed them. It’s true that I ran a few seconds past the red light, it didn’t go any faster, now I wasted more time and money. From now on, I will strictly follow the Traffic Law,” said Ms. Duyen.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Hai - Officer of Special Task Force No. 1 (Hanoi City Police), in addition to strictly handling violations, during the performance of duties, the functional forces also strengthen propaganda and guidance so that people can better understand the new regulations. The application of increased fines not only serves as a deterrent, but also gradually raises the awareness of traffic participants.
The leader of the Hanoi Traffic Police Department said that in the coming time, along with strengthening the handling of violations, the Traffic Police force will synchronously implement many other solutions, not only to reduce traffic accidents, but also to build a safe and civilized traffic environment so that people voluntarily implement and not just comply because of fear of heavy fines.
